Earl's Grocery and Saloon

Great bar.

Expression and consumption mingle in a menagerie of tastes and styles that harken back to simpler times and friends long forgotten. Upon entering Earl's you are enveloped by a the warmth of the ambiance like a mother embracing a shivering child.

A saloon? Is "Nessun Dorma" merely a song? Is "L'Estaque" merely a painting? No, but the owners should not be faulted for their attempts to define Earl's in such a way. The race of man is doomed to be limited by it's own devices and these limitations are no more apparent than when we try to label a place such as Earl's.

"Bar", "pub", "tavern"... these descriptors are fine for lesser establishments that shill their fermented drinks and deep-fried concoctions with the same care of a farmer filling a trough. Your preconceived notions have no place at Earl's. Like the inhabitants of Plato's cave who lived their entire lives staring only at the shadows on the wall, those that have not experienced Earl's have yet to know what it truly means to be alive.

Earl's is ok.  They did a good job of constructing the oval bar, and I like all the windows facing the street.

It's a little bit sterile and lacking in decorations, as if management hasn't quite decided whether to really make a go of this business.  The large old-timey photos of La Crosse are interesting, but perhaps too imposing.

Earl's seems to be a hangout for middle aged men.  Business would probably double if they hired some beautiful college girls to tend bar.